Patent No. EP 1 081 475 A2 discloses an infrared sensor comprising one or more heating/cooling elements that are connected in a thermally conductive fashion to the sensor housing and/or a diathermanous window of the sensor housing. The heating/cooling elements may comprise, for example, a heating element such as a NTC resistor or PTC resistor, or a transistor, or a heating and cooling element that is realized in the form of a Peltier element. They may also consist of a film, e.g., a polyimide film, onto which a metal layer is applied similar to strip conductors, wherein said metal layer consists, for example, of aluminum, copper, gold or a chrome-nickel alloy or a silver-graphite paste. The sensor housing and the diathermanous window consist of materials with high thermal conductivity in order to maintain occurring temperature gradients as low as possible. The housing consists, for example, of copper and the window consists of silicone. The infrared sensor is used in the measuring tip of an infrared thermometer for taking an intra-auricular temperature.